CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Editas Medicine, a transformative genome editing company, today announced the appointment of Katrine S. Bosley as chief executive officer. Ms. Bosley brings to Editas more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry and has been a leader in emerging companies with broad platforms for innovative medicines.

“Katrine’s scope of experience spans all stages of research, development and commercialization, a wide variety of diseases, and the gamut of business and financial strategy,” said Kevin Bitterman, Ph.D., member of the board of directors and former interim president, Editas Medicine. “I know she will bring all of these capabilities to bear in building Editas and advancing genome editing as a new therapeutic class. We’re very excited to have her at the helm.”

“There are rare instances when groundbreaking science comes together with a unique team, as it has at Editas, with multiple world-class institutions working in partnership to create an organization able to translate that science into groundbreaking medicines,” said Ms. Bosley. “Genome editing holds the potential to impact diseases that have been untreatable, but it will also demand innovative approaches in every aspect of research, development and eventually, commercialization. It will be an incredible journey to realize that potential.”

Prior to joining Editas Medicine, Ms. Bosley was chief executive officer of Avila Therapeutics, a company focused on targeted covalent drugs, which was acquired by Celgene in 2012. Prior to that, Ms. Bosley was vice president, business development at Adnexus Therapeutics until its acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2007. Earlier, she held positions at Biogen Idec in business development, commercial operations and portfolio strategy in the U.S. and Europe. Ms. Bosley was also part of the healthcare team at the venture firm Highland Capital Partners, was an early employee at Alkermes and recently spent time at the Broad Institute as an entrepreneur-in-residence. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in biology. Ms. Bosley also currently serves as chairman of the board of Genocea Biosciences (GNCA) and as a board member of Galapagos NV (Euronext:GLPG), Coco Therapeutics Ltd and Scholar Rock, LLC.

About Genome Editing

Following an explosion of high-profile publications on CRISPR/Cas9 and TALENs, genome editing has emerged as one of the most exciting new areas of scientific research. These recent advances have made it possible to modify, in a targeted way, almost any gene in the human body with the ability to directly turn on, turn off or edit disease-causing genes. Editas Medicine’s five founders have published much of the foundational work that has elevated genome editing technology to a level where it can now be optimized and developed for therapeutic use.

CRISPR (clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) and TALENs (transcription activator-like effector nucleases) comprise novel gene editing methods that overcome the challenges associated with previous technologies. Early published research on CRISPR/Cas9, coupled with a growing body of work on TALENs, suggests the potential to pursue therapeutic indications that have previously been intractable to traditional gene therapy, gene knock-down or other genome modification techniques. The CRISPR/Cas9 system, the most recent and exciting approach to emerge, acts by a mechanism in which the Cas9 protein binds to specific RNA molecules. The RNA molecules guide the Cas9 complex to the exact location in the genome that requires repair. CRISPR/Cas9 uniquely enables highly efficient knock-out, knock-down or selective editing of defective genes in the context of their natural promoters, unlocking the ability to treat the root cause of a broad range of diseases.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine is a transformative genome editing company founded by world leaders in the fields of genome editing, protein engineering, and molecular and structural biology, with specific expertise in CRISPR/Cas9 and TALENs technologies.

The company’s mission is to translate its genome editing technology into a novel class of human therapeutics that enable precise and corrective molecular modification to treat the underlying cause of a broad range of diseases at the genetic level. Editas Medicine was launched in November 2013 with funding from Flagship Ventures, Polaris Partners and Third Rock Ventures with participation from Partners Innovation Fund. For more information, visit www.editasmedicine.com.